I am trying to coax some Spring weather forth with this number. I figure that if I go outside in a Summer dress, floppy sun hat and sunglasses with some Lemonade then some suitable weather will follow. Even though I missed a good month of this Winter weather I am well and truly over it.
I had a bounty of lemons spare and I thought what better way to use them than with a refreshing glass of real lemonade. Not the clear stuff that you buy in the supermarket (which by the way tastes good with Christmas Pudding Vodka) but the stuff with real lemon in it. I prefer leaving some pulp in my juice, although you could certainly strain it, and I added the zest as the fragrant zest is one of the best parts of a fruit. If you use a good vegetable peeler (I like the Oxo Good Grips one I got from my mother in law for my wedding kitchen tea) then you’ll just get the fragrant yellow zest and not the bitter white rind, cheaper ones tend to hack away at everything and give you a bit of both.
I’ll sit outside here for another few minutes freezing my bottom off before I run back in and turn on the heater…
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I know this is a hard sell, this recipe for making Dolmades is a little complicated when you can go to the nearby supermarket and buy them for $10 a kilo. So I will try and entice you by saying that these are different from the regular Dolmades that you may buy. These have an Olive, Oregano and Pine Nut stuffing inside them.
These little parcels of creamy olive studded rice are fantastic finger food. They’re just the right size for popping in the mouth although you might need to take a couple of bites if you’re feeling dainty.
I would recommend that you give these a go just once, if only for knowing that these are absolutely fresh and gorgeously different, but not different enough to make you regretful.
Rolled and ready for steaming
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For all of my semi high falutin’ tastes, I admit that one of my favourite meals, the one that has me fork and knife at the table ready, is the humble roast chicken. I have a visceral reaction whenever I see a gloriously bronzed bird at the table and along with bread baking, I believe there is no smell better than a roasting chicken. And because I can’t help but fiddle, I made a stuffing with apricot and onion, a slight twist on the traditional sage and onion.
An item that makes another appearance in the recipe is Duck Fat. I had a little left over from cooking a duck stashed in the deep freeze. I never used it as I only had left such a small amount. But luckily only a small amount is needed here. If you can’t be bothered, and the whole point is that this is an easy dinner where the oven does all the work, just use butter. And prepare to swoon, this method ensures that there’s no dry breast meat at all, just succulence and bliss.
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My husband is what I affectionately refer to as a “fruit bat”. He is simply mad for the stuff, in dried or fresh form, his request for Christmas every year is a fruit basket and a fruit cake. And forget eating a dainty slice with tea, the whole cake can and has been consumed in less than a day. We recently went to a lunch after friend’s baby’s baptism and they brought out a lovely home made fruit cake. I placed a firm hand on his arm and said “NO honey, leave some for everyone else” and like a puppy chastised he looked sheepish and sank back down in his chair. I’m sure he had dreams of taking that cake and running away with it.
I had originally bought him the jar of mincemeat for him to eat with a spoon and a grin on his face but I forgot about it in the cupboard. And lucky I did as I needed it to whip up a quick fruit cake. Nigella’s recipe is a ludicrously easy fruit cake at that that you could possibly whip up with what you have in the cupboard plus a jar of mincemeat (I’m not assuming everyone has mincemeat in their cupboard). I looked at another of Nigella’s recipes and it required 2 weeks of soaking that I didn’t have so this was an easy decision. The cake itself is not exactly like a fruit cake in look although a bite into it and it does taste very fruit cakey. I didn’t find that there wasn’t quite enough fruit so I’d suggest adding either more mincemeat or soaking some fruit briefly to plump it up and then adding it in. Still, for the amount of effort, it’s a pretty good cake. I loved the look of Nigella’s Jewelled cupcakes so I used her cues for decorating it.
It was also a good choice to take with us on the long 6 hour drive to the snow for his birthday as it transports easily and is a “hardy” choice (i.e. no delicate layers, no cream). Other fantastic goodies that were cooked up to stave off the Winter chills were Swedish Mulled Wine by my Sister in Law and Finnish Split pea soup by my Mother in Law. I couldn’t have asked for better or more delicious ways to warm up after a day in the snow.
I intersperse the recipes with some photos of the snowfall-apparently, this years snowfall was the best in five years!
Ribena Snow Cone using fresh powdery snow!
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OK I’m not being serious, this is not only just for Shut Ins although sometimes during the cold of Winter, I definitely feel as though I qualify. I am not sure why there is such a stigma to hibernation, the bears do it and you hardly hear cries of “anti social bears” and mutterings that there’s something wrong with them. If you feel like the world is just too cold or cruel a place and that stepping out the door would be as appealing as sawing your own arm off, these recipes are for you. And I don’t want to hear from people who say that they’ve never felt like that and that they love socialising and interacting. Don’t get me wrong I do too. But there are just some days that you just want to barricade yourself indoors. An example of why everyone at some stage has felt this way is the great Australian tradition of a sickie. Sometimes you just cannot be bothered and slobbing around the house is the best you can do.
I like to celebrate my shut-in days by making the most of them. I watch the DVDs I’ve never gotten around to, read or at least start the books I’ve got gathering dust by the side of my bed and read trashy magazines *ahem* … I mean keep up with Current Affairs.
This Tessa Kiros recipe for chicken soup is from her book Apples for Jam, a cookbook/storybook with some gorgeous pictures and home recipes with a comforting edge to them. It interested me as it looked great in the photos. Yes, I am that superficial. I also liked the idea of a thick chicken soup - there’s nothing wrong with a thin broth but I like more sustaining soups, particularly if they are the main and only course at dinner.
As for the Potato Bread, I admit I fiddled with Nigella’s recipe. I actually got the idea from a friend Maria from Foodie Wanderings in which she told me about a bakery that made bread rolls with a whole boiled potato and mayonnaise inside. So I thought what bread recipe would better apply to this than Nigella’s potato bread. Call it potato on potato. And if you’re walking around in your Juicy trackpants, thermals and wooly socks, what better way to celebrate not having to wear your jeans than with an unashamed carb fest.
The soup was lovely on it’s own but like all great partnerships, it becomes so much more moreish when partnered with the spongy yet crunchy crusted bread. And if you think that it’s all too much of a production making the bread along with the soup, the smell of it baking in the oven should convince you otherwise. I’m pretty sure you could fit this in amongst your busy at home schedule. I managed to between appointments with Oprah and Entertainment Tonight.
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